Ancient Empires
by Thel
Summary: Daniel Jackson... intergalactic ninja, part three. "Jack, you're not helping."


TITLE: Ancient Empires  
AUTHOR: Thel  
EMAIL: kethe@hotmail.com  
ARCHIVE:  Sure, knock yourself out.  Just let me know where to find it.  
FEEDBACK: Please.  Good or bad, bring it on.  Here, or by email.  : )  
CATEGORY: Action… wee bit o' humour.  Sap.  Ugh.  I'm writing sap now.  
SPOILERS: Ummm… none really  
SEASON: any  
RATING: fingers in my ears  Laalalaa!  GenGenGen…  I can't hear your slashy comments.  
SUMMARY: Daniel Jackson… intergalactic ninja, part three.  "Jack, you're not helping."  
STATUS: Complete  
THANKS TO:  Petty.  Dear Petty.  I didn't think the premise was strong enough for more than one story, never mind three… or more.  And now look at me.  And she's got me writing sap.  What next?  Slash?  Uh… well… no.  That's for the series finale, two more stories down the road.  Also a huge thanks to the Folks down at Tok'ra Flats for their support and encouragement.  These are for you, ladies.  
AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This fic was inspired by Michael Shank's story at GateCon.  When asked for some insight into the show, something we fans don't know, he said (and I quote)… "Daniel's actually a night-time ninja.  He fights crime in the streets of Colorado Springs… When everyone thinks he's up late studying stuff, he's actually fighting crime on the streets…  There's a little tidbit for you fan fiction writers."  Poor man never realized that fanfic writers, like bunnies, live on tidbits.

- - - - -

Ancient Empires

"This… this is amazing."  Daniel spun around, one hand on his boonie, as he gazed up at the large stone statues lining the walkway leading away from the Stargate on P7D 173.  He pointed.  "Look over there.  The MALP image was correct.  That really does resemble the disputed statue of Cleopatra from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg."

Jack, hands still wrapped around his P90, raised his eyebrows and shrugged.  "Sweet?"  He turned the response into a question, knowing that it would goad Daniel into an answer.

"Don't you see?"  Daniel looked eagerly from person to person, only to have his team-mates return bewildered stares.  He made a rolling motion with his hand, starting over.  "Okay.  Take a look at that statue.  Figure of a woman.  Ankle length dress with the left leg forward."  Daniel turned back to the statue, making a wide sweeping motion with his arm.  He looked back at them like this should be making sense.  "Tripartite wig?  Three uraei… the… the snakes?"  Daniel made little snaky motions with his fingers at his temples.  "Come on, guys, this was in my briefing.  The statue from the Hermitage is an Egyptian deity but done in the flowing Hellenistic style of Ptolemy's era in the age of the Macedonian dynasty.  It's an archaeological anomaly."  

"Of course it is."  Jack said with supreme confidence.

"It's been a matter of debate for over 40 years.  Does that statue represent Cleopatra or is it Arsinoe, a queen from Ptolemaic times?"

"Well."  Sam pondered.  "If the timing is right, why isn't it, uh, Arsinoe?"

"Ah."  Daniel wagged his finger.  "That's the interesting part.  In 1957, Irma Lapis published a paper on the statue, theorizing that it was Arsinoe, but she based this hypothesis solely on the divided cornucopia carried by the figure.  The divided cornucopia is a symbol used only in representations of Arsinoe.  However, many archaeologists dispute that when compared to the clear symbols of the early Egyptian royalty..."

"And they're unique as well?"  Sam asked.

"Yes!  Yes, Cleopatra was always depicted with three uraei, Arsinoe with two.  In fact, only Cleopatra was depicted with three uraei."

"So maybe the sculptor couldn't count?"

"Jack… it's not that easy."

"Daniel, it could be exactly that easy.  Maybe some punk sculptor in Ptolemy's court got careless and made a three-snake Arse… Arse-in…  queen instead of a two-snake queen."

Daniel paused and gave Jack a long look, unwilling to concede the point but hard pressed to dispute it.  Finally, he decided to ignore it.  "Well, even if that were the case, and I am by no means admitting that I believe that to be the case, why would there be two of them?  And why would the second one be on a planet half-way across the galaxy from the St. Petersburg Hermitage?"

"Why don't you just go read the statue?"

Daniel spun, eyes back on the statue.  "Wh-  What?"

Jack pointed, elbow now resting on the stock of his gun.  "That's writing or… something on the base of the statue."

Daniel's mouth moved in a silent 'wow' before he was off, all but skipping down the cobblestone path to the statue.  Jack sighed, exchanged a look with Teal'c and then nodded in Daniel's direction.  "I should probably go with him.  Carter, you and Teal'c go play in the mud and get your soil samples.  I'm quite sure you'll be done long before Daniel is.  Meet us over by Snaky."  He gestured at the statue with his chin.

By the time Jack had done a sweep of the area and joined Daniel at the base of the statue, the archaeologist was in the middle of the translation.  He was seated cross-legged on the ground before the statue, hands clasped together with his chin resting on his fingers.

"I need to go back to Earth."

Jack kept up his vigil.  "What?"

Daniel held a hand out, gesturing at the statue.  "I need my reference books.  It's a completely original language.  I can't even begin to tell what is what.  I haven't seen letters like this anywhere.  It looks like a combination of Goa'uld with maybe Aramaic."  He cocked his head.  "Aramaic was waning in popularity around the time of Arsinoe."

"Well then…"  Jack started.

"But it's not Aramaic.  The letters don't mean anything in Aramaic.  It… it spells nothing."  Daniel's excitement showed through plainly.  He unclipped his pack and rooted around in it, pulling out his notebook and pencil.  They joined the video recorder already on the ground.

"Then…"  Jack tried again.

"Maybe Teal'c knows.  This could be some sort of dialectic form of Goa'uld.  Perhaps two transient populations met and combined alphabets… or there are examples on Earth of populations who borrow the alphabet of another and adapt it for their own.  Look at the evolution of kanji in Japan.  It was taken from the Chinese, adapted to suit Japanese and then two other alphabets, hiragana and katakana, were added to refine the text.  This…"  He held up a hand.  "This is incredible."

"Daniel…"  Jack's tone was mild.

"Jack."  Daniel drew breath to start another explanation.  This time, Jack was not so patient.

"Daniel, what say we ask the locals?"

Daniel shook his head, eyes fixed on the text he was copying into his field book.  "The MALP and the UAV showed no signs of an indigenous population."

"Yeah."  Daniel heard the familiar sound of Jack's gun being readied with deliberate casualness.  "These guys look plenty indigenous to me."

Daniel spun around.  They were surrounded.

- - - - - 

Half a day later, SG1 were in the village of the local tribe, the Ma'lath.  They were a pre-industrial civilization.  They had simple houses and some large, hairy, grey animals that seemed similar to yaks or cows.  It was mostly a farming community, harvesting some odd purple tubers from between the large trees.

Sam theorized that the huge trees managed to shield the village from the UAV.  It had to fly so high to get around them, that it could not pick up the heat signatures on the ground.  It left the town in a sort of perpetual twilight.  Here and there where the mighty trees had fallen, there were large open patches.  Now that the UAV had gone, children and some dog-like creatures played in the sunlight.

Daniel and Teal'c were still attempting to establish a means of communication.  The people did not understand Goa'uld, written or spoken, nor did they understand Aramaic.

Teal'c had made some headway in the conversation late in the afternoon, identifying the language as similar to one he had heard on Chulak from one of the local tribes there.

"Fascinating…"  Daniel absorbed Teal'c's words.  "So this could be a population originally from Earth, transplanted again years later, possibly mixed with other transplanted people."

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson."  Teal'c looked around.

Daniel made a note in his book while Sam and Jack kept a watchful perimeter.  So far, the locals had not proved hostile.  Their leaders had attempted to communicate, only to be stymied by the linguistic difficulties.  They had left a representative in charge and returned to their duties.  He was leading them through the village, pointing out people and names.

"Teal'c, can you speak that local dialect?"  Daniel made a 'pondering' face.

"I can."

Daniel held a hand out, gesturing to the man they were calling 'Leeson'.  They weren't sure if it was his name or his title, but it seemed to be working, and he came when called.  "Give it a shot."  Teal'c turned back to Daniel, a slightly concerned look playing across his features.  Daniel shook his head.  "Try talking to him."  He clarified.

Teal'c tried a few words of the dialect, speaking slowly.  Leeson, who had been leaning against a fence watching the group, snapped to attention.  He spoke a few words back to Teal'c.  They were similar, but with different stresses on the vowels and slightly different endings to the words.

"It appears he knows this language."  Teal'c confirmed.

"Good job."  Jack walked up to the group.  "Now maybe we can get this show on the road."  Leeson gestured to one of the people standing around and sent them running off somewhere.

"Looks like Leeson agrees with you, Jack."  Daniel had his video camera out again, and was filming the proceedings, trying to catch as much of the language as he could.  Teal'c and Leeson continued speaking.  After a short break, Teal'c turned back to his team-mates.

"The dialect he is speaking is not one spoken by many of the people here.  It seems, Daniel Jackson, that he is a scholar.  Much like yourself, he has devoted himself to studying the history of the languages on this planet.  He has sent for the elders and hopes we can continue our discussions."

"Well… well, tell him that's great.  Tell him we're here seeking knowledge."

Teal'c bowed slightly.  "As I am acting in your stead on this mission, Daniel Jackson, I have already relayed to him that we are peaceful travelers and that we have come here hoping to exchange knowledge."

"Oh."  Daniel made a sidelong look at Jack.  "Well, good then."

As the news that Leeson was at last able to communicate with the strangers spread through the village, more and more people started appearing.  Apparently Leeson's first words to the community had been to assure them that the newcomers were safe.  A small horde of children descended on the team, playing with the straps on their packs and touching their sleeves.  Finally, Leeson called them away, before they overwhelmed the guests.

The children retreated to the side in large, giggling groups.  Daniel attempted to smile at them, prompting more giggles especially from the older girls.

Some of the boys could not contain their enthusiasm and ran back to the group, surrounding Jack and Teal'c, admiring their weaponry and Teal'c's powerful physique.  Jack felt the boys' curious hands tugging at his weapon.  He reacted, pulling it out of range with an admonishing 'Ah!'.  The boys stepped back for only a moment before surrounding Jack again, speaking in rapid, excited voices.

 Finally Leeson waved them back.

"I believe he wishes for us to move aside.  They must move the large animals to the other pen.  I believe that, similar to the bovines of Earth, the… 'milk' must be extracted from them."

Some of the girls wandered up to Sam and Daniel.  They had long, curved staves, similar to a shepherd's crook.  Each staff had a series of small carvings on the crook.  Smiling, they showed off their tools to Sam and Daniel.  Pausing to ask permission, Daniel took one of the long, thin pieces of wood and examined it.

The boys, on the other hand, were finally shooed away from Jack and Teal'c.  As the last one left, Jack felt a tug on his pocket.

"Hey!"  He called to Leeson.  "That one, the little kleptomaniac took one of my flares."

The girls went toward the gate to the corral, dragging Sam and Daniel with them.  Sam kept her weapon while Daniel held on to the crook.  The crook's owner, meanwhile, held on to Daniel's other hand.  They hung back as the other girls and Sam opened the gate and started to herd the huge beasts from the pen.

Three of the younger girls walked with Daniel, while Sam stayed with the herding girls.  Their job was evidently to lead the procession of beasts, warning the villagers to get out of the way.  The girls sang a song as they walked, and Daniel watched, entranced.

By the corral, Jack was still trying to track down the giggling boy with his flare.  Leeson was in on the act, but cut off from the group by the beasts as they ambled out of the gate.  Finally, Jack found his quarry.  The boy was trying to examine the flare, curious about the strange, foreign toys.  Just as Jack got up to him, he snapped the flare and activated it.

With a shriek, the boy hurled the flare and ran.  Unfortunately, the flare went right under the feet of the nearest yak-creature.  It took one look at the flaming stick and panicked, throwing its head back and making an odd lowing sound.

It started to run, startling the one in front of it, resulting in a chain reaction.  There were only about ten of the creatures and the panic quickly spread.  Jack backed away but his horrified gaze turned to the front, to Daniel and the little girls directly in the path of the stampeding beasts.

"Run!"  Daniel shouted, moving sideways.  He knew they wouldn't understand the word, but maybe they would get the tone.  Two of the girls did, each one running to a different side of the street, while the third froze, terrified.

Daniel stopped, jaw dropping.  The beasts were almost on them and he could hear the older people start to shriek in dismay.  He reacted without thinking, grabbing the frozen girl and then leaping to the side.  He reeled back as a grey, hairy body went past him, impacting his shoulder.  He pulled the girl up and into his arms.  She wrapped her arms and legs around Daniel tightly, leaving his hands free.  He kept the crook in front of him, like a jo-staff.

There was no way to reach the side of the street in time.  More of the beasts were coming.  From the back, he could hear Jack yelling.

"Daniel!  Get out of there!"

He pushed all thoughts of panic out of his mind and concentrated on surviving the next few seconds.  He started to spin the staff, like the wrist exercises in class.  One hand over the other, making the wood spin.  Hopefully, it would make him look like too large a target to barrel down.  It was enough to send the second and third yak veering around him.

Either panicked or stubborn, the fourth and fifth were not so easily scared.  They came right at Daniel.

The archaeologist's movements were slightly hampered by the little girl hanging on to his chest and waist, but he dodged one and then spun to avoid the other.  As the sixth went by, it made a bucking kick, its heavy hoof hitting Daniel's thigh.  He gritted his teeth as the pain flared up, and then his leg went blessedly numb.  He was now hopping on one leg with four more of the beasts coming at him.  

The seventh was leading the other two.  Daniel gripped the staff in both hands.  Yelping as he forced his bruised leg to take his weight, he put his foot down and pivoted, spinning and swinging the staff with both hands while the girl gripped him tightly, all but crushing his chest.  The crooked end of the staff hit the seventh yak in the head, making it veer away from Daniel.  The eighth and ninth followed it.

Finally, Daniel looked up at the tenth heading straight for him.  He dropped the staff and pushed off with his good leg, hurling himself sideways.  He had to land on his hands and knees, in order to avoid crushing the little girl, but he managed it.  He rolled quickly onto his back as the yak thundered by and everything went still.

"Dammit!  He vaguely heard Jack's roar from the back of the crowd as the people started to gather around him.  Daniel didn't bother moving, he just lay there trying to catch his breath.  The little girl was still wrapped around him, her face buried in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.  For her sake, he managed to raise a hand and start patting her hair, whispering soothingly to her.

There was a scuffing sound and then Jack was there, on his knees, his hand gently touching Daniel's forehead.  A sobbing woman dropped to her knees next to him, pulling at the little girl.  For a moment, the girl gripped Daniel even tighter, refusing to relinquish her saviour.  Finally, the girl's mother got through and with a sob, the girl abandoned Daniel and launched herself into her mother's arms.

"Daniel?"

With an effort, Daniel opened his eyes and looked up at his commanding officer.

"Hey, Jack."

"Hey."  Jack's tone was still concerned.  "What hurts?"

Daniel lifted his head as Sam knelt beside him.  Her hand brushed his dusty face before starting to do a body check.

"Nothing broken.  Just got kicked.  Shoulder hurts a little.  Help me up."  Jack looked quickly at Sam who confirmed Daniel's self-diagnosis.  They helped Daniel to sit up.  Wordlessly, Teal'c came and stood behind Daniel, allowing the younger man to lean against his legs for support.

"Ow."  Daniel muttered as his leg protested the movement.  Around them, the villagers started to move aside, allowing the elders and Leeson to approach SG1.

The head of the village dropped to one knee before Daniel.  Teal'c and Leeson translated as he asked about Daniel's health.  Daniel waved his hand, downplaying his injury.  He put his hands on the ground, intending to stand.  He stopped when SG1, the elders, Leeson and the villagers around them all barked out a firm 'no'.

Everyone eyed each other sheepishly, caught over-reacting.  Finally, at Daniel's insistence, he was helped up and standing once again.  He shook his leg with a grimace as the pins and needles started to spread.

The villagers were all talking a mile a minute, checking on their children and reassuring them.  They started to point at Daniel and make strange gestures with their hands.

Jack tugged on Leeson's sleeve and Teal'c translated.

"What's goin' on?"  
"The villagers are amazed that Daniel Jackson has survived."  Teal'c translated Leeson's words back to the group.  "They are discussing his skill with the staff.  Some of the elders wish to know if Daniel has followed the path of the ancient teachers of war."

Daniel's brow furrowed as he tried to understand.  Jack held up a hand.

"Allow me to translate this one for you, Daniel."  Daniel's eyebrows went up, but he nodded.  Jack continued with a sly grin.  "I believe the closest English translation would be…  'What are you?  Some kind of ninja?'."

Daniel's face scrunched up in mock pain as Jack grinned and more or less said the same thing to the villagers through Teal'c.

"Jack, you're not helping."

With a muffled laugh, Jack moved beside Daniel and slung his arm over Jack's shoulder.  Daniel hissed once but settled himself in quickly.  "Let's get you home, grand master."

"Jack!"

Teal'c translated their need to return home to the villagers who let out loud calls of protest.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Teal'c, tell them we'll be back."  The Jaffa did so, and the cries changed to happy sounds.  As SG1 prepared for the trip back to the gate, the village elder came forward with two children.

One was an extremely guilty looking young boy.  His head hung, eyes fixed on his worn sandals.  The boy whispered his apologies to Jack and Daniel.  Jack waited for Daniel to accept the apology and then followed suit.  The boy brightened up at Daniel's smile.  He bowed once to SG1 and ran back to join his friends.

The other child was the little girl that Daniel had pulled from certain death.  She hesitated a moment, thinking of what to say.  Finally, she let actions speak louder than words and threw her arms around Daniel's waist.  Jack pulled a little away, still supporting Daniel, but allowing him this moment.

Daniel's free hand dropped to the girl's back and he returned her hug.  As if this was a signal, the villagers surged forward and buried SG1 in a sea of hugs.  Jack kept a firm grip on Daniel.  This, as on so many other occasions, was the only thing that kept Daniel from being hauled away by a sea of delighted and entranced admirers.

Jack, himself, returned a few of the hugs, especially the younger kids.  Sam talked her way through the hugs, with an unending stream of 'oh, hello, thank you, you too? okay, hi there, uh huh' as the villagers expressed their gratitude.  Teal'c remained stoic through the whole thing, standing stiff as the villagers wrapped their arms around him and laughed.  He blinked rapidly as he looked around, but gave no other sign of pleasure or displeasure.

Finally, everyone got their hugs in and backed away.  Jack looked over at Daniel who was blinking suspiciously.  Jack's head dropped as he realised the reason why.

This village was a lot like Abydos.  Daniel probably hadn't had a full village hug since Abydos.  The memories were bound to come back.  Jack gripped Daniel's waist, pretending he was just steadying the archaeologist.

"You okay?"  He asked softly.

Daniel nodded and sniffed once, back to his old self in a moment.  "I'm fine."  He smiled at Jack.  "Think I'd like to go home now though."

With that, Jack called for everyone to get in gear, and they headed back to the gate.

- - - - -

General Hammond stood at the base of the ramp, like he always did when an SG team returned early.  It was his right, and his responsibility to be there to greet those he had sent into the unknown.  When they returned early, it always made his heart ache with the possibility that they could be returning wounded or, God help them, short a man.

It was with a sense of relief then that he saw all four members of SG1 walk through the gate and return home.  Daniel Jackson was leaning on O'Neill and limping, but there was no blood and no obvious wounds.  The archaeologist was awake and animated, talking with his team-mates.

"Colonel?"  Hammond brought their attention over to him.  Jack led Daniel to the General.

"Sir.  We had a little run-in with a herd of yaks.  We found intelligent life and they think that Daniel's a n-"

"Jack!"  Daniel cut him off with a warning tone.

O'Neill amended his speech.  "Nice guy.  They think he's a nice guy."

"I look forward to hearing all about it at sixteen hundred hours."  Hammond nodded.

"Thank you, sir."

"SG1, dismissed.  Get yourselves down to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir."

The foursome started out of the gateroom, only to be brought up short as Daniel stiffened.

"Oh my God, Jack.  We have to go back!"

"What, Daniel?  Why?"  Sam was there, looking concerned.

Daniel's jaw worked and he looked down at Sam.  "The statue."

"What?"  Jack's turn to ask.

"The statue.  I forgot to ask them what they called her."  Jack grumbled under his breath and started dragging Daniel to the infirmary over the archaeologist's protests.  "No, Jack, seriously.  I can go through for five minutes.  I just have to get back to the village and ask.  Please, Jack.  Ple-"

The heavy, metal door swung shut, cutting off Daniel's words.  In the gateroom, Hammond shook his head fondly and turned away.


End file.
